Lohkous Mix

      Lohkous is a genre created by Hempuli (known for Baba is You) using an interesting way of defining regions in regdiv genres. I am very much not good at Lokhous myself, but I created these small puzzles to dabble in its logic. Here are the rules :

Draw lines over the dotted lines to divide the board into several blocks.

- Each block must contain exactly one square with one or more numbers on it.
- All lines must be used to divide two regions, there can not be any dead-ends.
- When dividing a block into horizontal segments, each segment must have a length specified by one of the clue numbers. The same applies when dividing the block into vertical segments.
- Each number must be represented at least once by a horizontal or vertical segment in the same block.
- A question mark can replace any number, as long as no number is repeated in that cell.

Rules taken from puzz.link - click here for a solved example.

    Today, 2 variants are added : Scattered (Pairs) and Coded.

Scattered Pairs : Each region contains exactly 2 numbers. "Scattered" idea from Dohz.

Coded : Each letter represent a different number. Same letters represent the same number.

    Thanks to Kays, Menderbug and Teal for testing and fedback.

Classic - Scattered (Pairs) - Coded

Yajilin (Shade Myopia)

     Following on Yajilin, here is a variant with uses clues related to proximity : Shade-Myopia. Apart from regular rules, the clues point in the direction(s) of the closest black cell(s) (at least one in each pointed direction). Black cells can appear in the other directions as long as the closest respect the proximity rule. Clues look horizontally and vertically in a straight line.

    2 easy puzzles, I'm sure that richer logic can be made but I wanted to introduce this variant quickly, maybe a bigger, tougher puzzle will eventually come up with this ruleset.

    Thanks to Wessel for testing and feedback.

Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2

Roman Loop 🏟 ♾️

     Roman Loop is a loop genre I came up with in 2023, sharing my puzzles with the WSPC France discord on the 15/6/23. It's a crossing loop genre that require a good amount of pencil marks to keep track of everything. Here are the rules :

    Draw a loop through the center of some cells.

- The loop may only cross in a cell by 2 straight lines.

- Numbers outside the grid evaluate the sum of the cells in their row/column. An empty cell is worth 0, a straight line is 1, a turn is 5 and a crossing is 10.

- Some cells are already filled in, there may not be any more markings in these cells. 

     Check this link for an interactive version of the example.

    2 puzzles (the base set I shared a while back), 3 more puzzles tested by Barbitos will be released sometime in October (If I don't forget). Don't forget to check out the example.

    Thanks to WSPC France discord for feedback.

Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2

Ice and Fire 🧊🔥

      Ice and Fire is a ruleset I came up with when setting SSC puzzles in the CtC server (I managed to send my entry wrong). Here are the rules :

    Draw a loop passing through all numbers.

- The loop may only cross on icy cells,

- Icy cells only allows straight segments, Fire-y cells only allow turning.

- A number indicates how many cells make up the continuous white section of the loop that the number is on.

    3rd puzzle is from SSC (with the correct pattern of colors lol). I will definetly play around more with these rules.

Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2 - Puzzle 3

Numbrix

       Numbrix is a path genre (subset of loop), but is solved by placing numbers in the grid. I'll classify it in loops and number placement (this category will come up more frequently later). Here are the rules :

Place numbers from 1 to N, N being the number of cells in the grid. Two consecutive numbers must be in orthogonally adjacent cells. 

In other words, trace a path from 1 to N passing through the center of cells, not diagonally, where a cell containing X must be the Xth cell visited on the path.

     3 puzzles, as they're quite easy (i'll try to set a harder one next time), I suggest taking a look at puzzle 3 even if you're not used to this genre.

Thanks to Barbitos for testing and feedback.

Kudamono : Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2 - Puzzle 3 // Penpa+ : Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2 - Puzzle 3

Tapa

      Tapa is a shading genre created by Serkan Yürekli and an old favorite of mine (books covered in these puzzles to pass the time in high school). A vast amount of variants were made from this ruleset, I may dabble in setting some of these. Here are the rules :

Shade some cells on the board.

- Cells with numbers cannot be shaded.
- Numbers represent the lengths of the blocks of consecutive shaded cells in the (up to) eight cells surrounding the clue. Numbers aren't necessarily in order.
- A question mark can be replaced by any positive number (at least 1) (standard rules allow for a single ? to be zero, here it is NOT the case).

- The shaded cells cannot form a 2x2 square.
- All shaded cells form an orthogonally contiguous area.

    3 puzzles, with the last one being quite tricky to start (although the theme should be unsubtle enough). I will probably set larger puzzles posted 1 by 1, as I like to do with Fillomino.

Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2 - Puzzle 3

 

Square Jam #2

    2 more Square Jams. I find this genre among those I use to introduce people to puzzle solving, as it has easy to understand rules and plenty of fun to have. Both puzzle are  tricky but not many hard steps to catch.

    Thanks to Lazycrus for test-solving.

Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2

 

Haisu 1️⃣ 🚪 2️⃣

    Haisu is a path genre, which is mainly considered as a subclass of loop genre. It's seems quite a whacky genre at first, and it can make you pull out your hair from setting ambiguous puzzles, but it also bring fun logic. Here are the rules :

Draw a path from S to G that goes through all cells.

- The path cannot branch off or cross itself.
- An outlined region can be entered and exited multiple times. A number N indicates that the path must go through that cell on the region's Nth visit.

Rules taken from puzz.link - click here for a solved example.

    2 puzzles, I strongly recommend taking the time to look at other puzzles on the database if the second one gives you trouble, it shouldn't be discouraging.

    Thanks to Mender and Wessel for testing and feedback.

Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2

Regional Yajilin

     Regional Yajilin is a twist on Yajilin with clues layed out as areas rather than pointing cells. Here are the rules :

Shade some cells on the board, and draw a single loop that goes through all remaining cells.

- The loop cannot branch off or cross itself.
- Shaded cells cannot be orthogonally adjacent.
- A number indicates the amount of shaded cells in the outlined region.

Rules taken from puzz.link - click here for a solved example.

     Just one puzzle today, shouldn't be too hard to manage if you know Yajilin.

    Thanks to Wessel for testing and feedback.

Puzz.link interface

 

21th night of September

    Dumb joke. Dumb puzzle. Here are the rules :

Draw a loop through ALL non-black cells.

-  The loop may not cross itself or visit a cell more than once.

- Numbers indicate the amount of consecutive white cells visited by the loop.

- The loop may not visit more than 2 consecutive mud (brown) cells.

- The loop may only turn on a fire (red) cell.

- The loop must go straight through black arrows.

- White arrows indicate the direction of the wind, up to the next black cell/edge of the grid. When the loop enters a row/column with wind, it must immediatly turn in its direction.

- The loop may not go against the wind.

Penpa+ interface

 

La Paz-like Loop

     La Paz-like Loop is derivated genre of Implicit Directors, loop genre created by PinkHoodie. It uses the logic of Yajilin with clues you can pass through, that act diferently depending on how you pass over them. Here are the rules :

Draw a loop through the center of some cells, and shade the remaining cells.

- The loop cannot branch or cross itself.

- Cells with numbers cannot be shaded.

- Shaded cells may not share and edge.

 - The loop must pass straight through a number. The number indicate the amount of shaded cells in the direction of the segment passing through itself.

Click here for more examples of La Paz-like Loop (Pedros' works)

    Thanks to Barbitos for testing and feedback.

Kudamono : Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2 // Penpa+ : Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2

Shakashaka #2

    Shakashaka this time. Big and somewhat easy puzzle. I realised I made a few a while back but never posted them, so i'll roll them out between other posts. Rules here.

Puzz.link interface

 

Line of Sight 👀→

    Line of Sight is a loop genre by Naoki Inaba, with pointing clues like Yajilin or Castle wall. These puzzles were made a while back, but there's interesting enough to put here. Here are the rules :

    Draw lines along the edges of some cells to form a loop.
- The loop cannot branch off or cross itself.
- A number represents the length of the first straight line segment seen in the indicated direction.

Rules taken from puzz.link -> click here for a solved example.

    2 easy puzzles for today. I prefer to stick with smaller grids to make scanning easier.

Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2

Door Hinge #2

      A chill Door Hinge for this post. Rules here. It seems weird that the grid looks like how a Heyawake is set, no ? Maybe it's just me.

    Thanks to Wessel for testing and feedback.

Puzz.link interface

Heyawake 🚪 ⬛ 🚪

    Heyawake for today. Since I haven't stated the rules of this puzzle on the blog, I'll put them on this post :

    Shade some cells on the board.
- Shaded cells cannot be horizontally or vertically adjacent.
- A number indicates the amount of shaded cells in a region.
- There cannot be a horizontal or vertical line of unshaded cells that goes through 2 or more region borders.
- All unshaded cells on the board form an orthogonally connected area.

Rules taken from puzz.link - click here for a solved example.

    Today's puzzle is significantly harder than usual, as it's important to find where to look at each step, but does not require any theory. I may put the solve path if anyone is stuck and would like a step-by-step solve.

    Thanks to Menderbug and Wessel for testing and feedback.

Puzz.link interface

 

Disorderly Loop 🔢➡️

    Disorderly Loop is a genre created by Eric Fox. It is neither a full loop nor an oriented loop genre, making it easier to solve (some full loop genre are pretty good though, but the harder puzzles tend to get stupid really quick). Here are the rules :

Draw lines through orthogonally adjacent cells to form a loop.

- The loop cannot branch off or cross itself.
- The loop cannot go through gray cells.
- Arrows point from a gray cell to an adjacent cell where the loop must make a turn.
- Clues represent the lengths of the next N line segments when following the loop in the direction of the arrow, where N is the amount of numbers inside the clue. Numbers aren't necessarily in order.

    For example, A {12?} clue means that starting straight from the arrow, the next 3 segments must have lengths taken from the clue's bank, in this case a line of length 1, another of length 2, and a 3rd one of any length (can be the same as numbers in the bank). 

Rules taken from puzz.link -> click here for a solved example. The provided example does not demonstrate ? clues, I hope it's not too confusing here.

    Thanks to Menderbug and Wessel for testing and feedback.

Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2

 

Double Choco #2

    2 Double Choco for today. I worked with the same layout for both grids, and exploited 2 different ideas from the same pattern. Second puzzle is harder than the first. Rules here.

Puzzle 1 - Puzzle 2

Fillomino 🪣

    Here a big Fillomino puzzle. It's a bit tedious to set, plus the fact that I always forget a region that ends up too small and need to fix the puzzle; that can take quite a while to do... Expect some tricky logic, but nothing too astronomical. I also tend to stick to single-digit clues to make it more pleasing to the eyes, and it's funny to hide double-digit regions in these puzzle. Rules here.

Puzz.link interface - Pzv3 (no auto borders) interface